Speakers Bureau - Ryan C. MacPherson

Macpherson Ryan 2011To schedule a presentation with Dr. MacPherson contact him through his web site (www.ryancmacpherson.com/contact) or at 507.344.7787.

Dr. MacPherson's presentations are intended for grades six through eight, high school students, college students, and adults. Preferred settings include junior high or senior high chapels and classrooms; youth group events; college public forums; college group events; college classrooms; youth, teen, and adult Bible study classes; church organizations; and public forum.

Possible topics include:

  • Legal Dimensions/Constitution Issues (e.g. the rationale behind the Roe v. Wade decision, or the current debates on homosexual "marriage.")
  • Comparison of Moral Philosophies (e.g. divine command, natural law, utilitarianism, subjectivism)
  • Abortion: Procedures, facts and stats, and the Church's response
  • Biotechnologies: Assisted reproductive technologies, human cloning, in vitro fertilization
  • End-of-Life Issues: Physician-assisted suicide and euthanasia
  • Men, Women, and Relationships: Biblical manhood, biblical womanhood, roles of men and women
  • Other topics: Biblical basis for the value of human life, Creation

Bio

Ryan C. MacPherson graduated with a Ph.D. in History and Philosophy of Science from the University of Notre Dame in 2003 and since then has taught American History, History of Science, and Ethics in Science at Bethany Lutheran College (Evangelical Lutheran Synod) in Mankato, Minnesota. He also has completed several courses at Bethany Lutheran Theological Seminary during his time at the college.

Dr. MacPherson’s publications include a “The Natural Law of the Family” (a chapter in Natural Law: A Lutheran Reappraisal, CPH, 2011) and two chapters in Here We Stand (NPH, 2010): “The Church and Science through the Ages” and “Teaching Objective Morality to a Postmodern Audience.” He also has published a research article concerning creation-evolution controversies in the Princeton Library Chronicle, a review essay in Journal of the History of Biology, a review essay in Lutheran Synod Quarterly, and several devotional articles in the Lutheran Sentinel (Evangelical Lutheran Synod) and Clearly Caring (Christian Life Resources). He presently is completing a book on the same-sex “marriage” controversy. With Peter Anthony and Paul Madson, Dr. MacPherson also is co-editing an historical anthology of ELS essays concerning the significance of Christian education, to be published by the ELS Historical Society.

Dr. MacPherson has taught working research scientists at Chesapeake Biological Laboratory in Solomons, Maryland, and presented a workshop on the ethical dimensions of science at the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, Maryland. One of his recent conference papers was entitled “Using Science to Teach about God’s Wonderful Creation: Why Genuine Marriage Is Heterosexual,” delivered in April 2007 to the WELS Minnesota District Pastors’ Conference.

Dr. MacPherson also serves on the Board of Directors of the Evangelical Lutheran Synod Historical Society and is founding president of The Hausvater Project, which promotes a confessional Lutheran vision for family, church, and society. To assist pro-life organizations in using social media to spread their life-affirming message, Dr. MacPherson established a blog entitled Prolife Promotions. He lives in Mankato, Minnesota, with his wife, Marie, and their children.